Arguably it raises awareness and the shard belief in at least the principle of individual responsibility. Against the overwhelming tide of the "Fuck it, I'll be dead before this shit starts to really come down on our heads anyway" which would otherwise be the reigning default.
You (obviously) can't do this on your own and, at a certain level, the environmental movement's focus on bogus, small-time, feel-good issues reveals its cynicism. BUT PLEASE, stop defending it. You're just empowering those looking for a reason to resent the movement.
Like trying to start banning categories of plastic? Straws and shopping bags?
Just Ctrl+F for straws in this thread. Two top comments are taking shots at straws and once I post this reply, those two comments will have pushed the word straw to 97 counts.
Lastly just for fun, just a tally of the most common words on this page: 447 the
230 to
224 a
221 of
182 ago
174 and
172 hours
170 reply
170 in
158 is
150 that
103 i
98 plastic
91 it
81 you
79 on
78 for
76 are
67 not
67 be
62 we
60 this
57 but
55 they
55 straws
52 with
51 it's
51 if
51 have
50 all
49 or
43 use
39 was
39 more
39 as
38 so
38 at
37 about
36 don't
36 can
34 straw
34 people
34 from
32 them
32 fishing
The article is about merchant and fishing ships.
Actually it was primarily about these ships as primary sources of plastic dumping in the ocean.
Not about the "ships" per se.